Our best-selling ice cream in our shops is Honeycomb crunchy caramel (this ice cream flavour originates in New Zealand, where they call it “hokey pokey“), and last night I set about final testing on the recipe for the crunchy bits that make it so distinctive. Known also as “cinder toffee” and “sponge candy,” it is as actually quite easy to make.

By the way, if anyone knows who invented the candy, please pass it on!

There are so many ways to make this, and if you want to explore other recipes, you’ll find variations here, here, here and here.

Here’s what works for me, and it lasts fairly well without going soggy.

Honeycomb Caramel Candy

Ingredients:

400g sugar

100ml water

40ml golden syrup (about 2 tablespoons)

1 tablespoon baking soda

What to do:

Combine the water, golden syrup and sugar and cook over medium heat without stirring until the sugar dissolves.

Turn up the heat until the mixture becomes the deep golden colour of honeycomb, stirring if it cooks unevenly.

Stir in the baking soda, until it is fully combined, but don’t over-mix! It will froth up and more than triple in volume.

Note: 1. For those scientifically minded, the sugar mixture should reach hard crack stage, which you can test by using a candy thermometer or spooning a few drops into a glass of cold water, where it should immediately harden and break easily when you take it out. That being said, I find that once the colour is right, the temperature is right!

2. Make sure there are no lumps in the baking soda, or it might not dissolve fully!

Some of you might find this amusing… I have just received a press release from Ben & Jerry’s. Before I go any further, anti-royalist republicans should avert their eyes! Anyway, the press release reads in part:

To celebrate Prince Charles’ special day tomorrow, Ben and Jerry’s have rustled up a bespoke birthday treat… This limited edition ice cream is a sweet gift for the guy who has everything – and sure to make for one cool birthday when it lands on the Prince’s doorstep tomorrow.

“Heir To The Cone” is creamy banana ice cream, walnuts and chocolate chunks. Of course, only the finest ingredients were used in the ice cream fit for a king (to be)!

Besides the cookbook, one of the projects we have for this winter is to try to make our company more green. Not only is it the right thing to do, but hopefully we can also save money on electricity, etc., as well as feeling good about ourselves! We are going to have a full environmental audit soon, and I’ll let you know how it goes…

The deadline for finishing the book is fast approaching, and while we’re busy testing the recipes here, I need some help.

Maybe you also need an excuse to make a sweet treat!!!

Many of you have made some of these recipes, and I appreciate your feedback. However, I haven’t had much feedback on otherÂ recipes.

So… To make this interesting, I would like to suggest a food event, an Ice Cream Party, to all those who have a benevolent heart, an inclination toward sweet things and a wish to make them:

Make one (or more) of the following recipes (don’t leave it too late!), write about the experience on your blog (including any suggested changes) by 25th of November, put a link here, email me at kfionnm at icecreamireland dot com with the URL of the post, and I will –

Post a round-up of all the entries including links to your site

Include a credit to you in the book

Send a free copy of the book (when it’s published in April) to theÂ 5 best posts

I’m trying to negotiate with my brother for some Ice Cream Ireland Official Tester/Taster t-shirts, and if that comes off they might find their way to you as well (no promises yet, I’ll keep you posted)

Sound good?

Here are the recipes, and some are very easy, some complicated. (I will change this as we go, since we don’t want everyone doing the same recipe):

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